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Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Discovery in magnetic behavior can impulse nuclear fusion

The top of this image shows how early in the heating, magnetic fields, drawn as black lines, prevent heat from flowing easily between the two yellow laser spots. Later in the heating, as depicted on the bottom half, the moving magnetic fields continually connect and provide a channel for heat to flow between the two laser spots. This newly discovered magnetic behavior could advance nuclear fusion. Credit: Joglekar, Thomas, Fox and Bhattacharjee

(Phys.org) —Inspired by the space physics behind solar flares and the aurora, a team of researchers from the University of Michigan and Princeton has uncovered a new kind of magnetic behavior that could help make nuclear fusion reactions easier to start.